About a year and a half ago, my garbage disposal (GD) stopped working. Before it officially stopped working, you could turn on the power to it and hear a humming noise; sometimes it would actually start up and run. After it did that for a couple of weeks, it finally stopped working altogether. Since we are renting a house, we just told the property manager and a plumber replaced it. Since then, we used the GD sparingly (once a month just to make sure it was still working) and used one of those wire mesh things in the drain to catch everything from going down the drain.
About two months ago, the GD starting doing the humming thing again and now it is not working again. Why would this occur? Could it be that the GD was never replaced and the old one was just jerry-rigged? Does this have a fuse and if so could it have just blown? Because of the contract we have, we would have to pay the first $50 if a plumber came out and replaced this one again which we dont want to do.
2007-01-02 11:47:19 · 5 answers · asked by Brett M 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
In my experience, it is rare for this motor to burn out because of the safety. Nine times out of ten there is a small piece of glass or ceramic stopping the blades. CAUTION; NEVER put your hand into the disposal, NEVER! Get a small flashlight and a long needle nose plier and look for the obstruction after you shut off the power AT THE Breaker Box! Not The Switch, Your hand is worth more than fifty bucks. If you find a screw or other metal part in the disposal, replace the unit. I'm assuming that you know there is a small red button under the disposal that resets the motor.
2007-01-02 12:00:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried to turn it from the bottom with a hex wrench? Most GD's have a reset button on the bottom but if it popped the motor will not hum. Sounds like something is hung up in the GD. Or they didn't replace it.
2007-01-02 19:57:34 · answer #2 · answered by brian d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes debris will get jammed in the unit. The motor is unable to produce the torque needed to dislodge what ever is jammed.
Most disposals have a hex fitting in the very bottom of the unit (inside your base cabinet) that will receive an allen wrench. With the power to the disposal off, try and rotate the inner unit using the bottom hex fitting (it may take some elbow grease). After rotating manually, try turning it on and see if it will mover freely.
2007-01-02 19:54:36 · answer #3 · answered by mcd_48230 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Fist things first: If it's "humming" then look under it, there's a little red reset button, you could miss it. push it in then try the disposal again. it should turn on. From sitting (No use) it get food in the bottom and sometimes "freezes" so run water in it, add some liquid detergent and let it clean out good, run lots of water, when clean, start using it. Always run water before and after using it to clean it and get the smells out.
2007-01-03 06:30:13 · answer #4 · answered by cowboydoc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe you should try running the water when using it or it clogs up and overheats
2007-01-03 02:33:14 · answer #5 · answered by Larry m 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋